by Jonathan Vander Lugt

Now three games into a season that opened with a drubbing against Father Judge High School, the Germantown Academy football Patriots seem to be getting better and better.

Last week, they beat Saints John Neumann and Maria Goretti Catholic High School handily. Quarterback Kyle McCloskey slung the ball around with ease, and the running game started to get rolling in the 44-0 shutout win. Against the Academy of the New Church this weekend, there wasn’t a shutout, but the offense kept humming at peak efficiency.

McCloskey and co. tallied a whopping 11.7 yards per play—316 yards on 27 tries. That’s on average more than a first down each time the Patriots snapped the ball in their 54-20 win.

“I definitely wanted to get my other receivers involved,” McCloskey said about his effort to spread the ball around in his 8-for-9 day. “Obviously it worked out.”

A week after he and Mike Reilly were the only passing combo (not that it was a bad thing, necessarily), a total of six Patriot receivers got their hands on the pigskin.

Khalil Ashley-Diarrah played particularly well. The tall sophomore registered four catches for 83 yards and a score.

“Kahlil had a big game, and that’s great to see,” said Matt Dence, GA’s head coach. “I think he’s a future star.”

“He made some big plays, and we executed again,” McCloskey said. “We didn’t make a ton of mistakes offensively.”

Elsewhere, K.J. Cartwright rumbled to 66 yards and three scores on just six carries. He made an impact in the return game as well, when he took a reverse handoff from Reilly 81 yards to the house. Don Ganges busted a big run late as well, for 75 yards and six points.

“Our line made big holes for the running game, and they hit them,” McCloskey said. “We definitely had the right blocking schemes. It was our second week in a row against an odd-front defense, which our line started to get used to.”

GA got the action going right away, scoring 20 points in the first before tallying 28 more in the second. Ganges run represented the only touchdown of the second half for GA, where the clock was running in an out-of-hand game. It was always clear that GA was the better team, and for most of the game, they played like it.

Defensively, the Pats tallied three interceptions—to make it eight in the past two weeks—along with three sacks. The linebackers’ play stood out on one drive in particular, early in the second quarter and with ANC deep within its own territory.

“There was one series where on the first down,” Dence said, “where Matt (Gorman) made a play underneath to keep it to a one-yard gain.

“On the next, Shane Harkins makes a play for a two yard gain. On third down, Pat McGettigan picks it off. That was one of the best defensive series that our linebackers have had since I’ve been here.”

It wasn’t all perfect; Germantown Academy’s play on special teams left something to be desired. Yes, Cartwright had a kick return touchdown, but that was immediately following a return score from ANC. After Cartwright’s score, GA’s special teams nearly allowed another TD on a 61-yard Lion return.

In addition, the Pats muffed an early snap on an extra point, and late, they pegged one off of the goalpost later on. Those infractions are minor, but still need to be worked on.

“I don’t know if we could practice special teams any harder,” Dence said. “I’m sick about that kickoff.”

Prior to his foray into the high-school game, Dence was the special teams coordinator for Yale, so you know that the gaffes have to get his goat.

“I think it’s just finding the right guys,” he said. “Maybe we have the right personal, but they’re in the wrong spots. We’ve got to look at the film.”

Overall, though, Dence was understandably pleased with how the team played. This week brings GA’s penultimate non-conference tilt: a Friday-night matchup at New Hope Solebury.

“We need to keep getting better and keep executing,” McCloskey said. “If we keep that up, good things will happen.”